Letter box construction



Aug. 30, 1932.' L.-W. COLE LETTER Box CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 12, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Lou/s IV. (0L5 ATTORN E Y Aug. 30, 1

LETTER BOX cdus'ifiilb'rxqff I Filed Deb. i2, lz 4 sheets-sheet 42 55H in mmmungli: K

' INVENTOR [0015 N Clue ATTORNEY Aug. 30, 1932. w COLE LETTER BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed D90. 12. 1929 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR nfomv 1 I .5 M 6 N S w Z Aug.30,1932. I L. w. COLE 1,874,696

' LETTER "Box consmucflon Filed Dec. 12. 1929 4 Shuts-Sheet 4 NNNNNN OR Patented Aug. 30, 1932 UNITED fSTA-TES LOUIS W. COLE, OF NEW YORK, Ni ASSIGNO'LB. TO COiiE'ELECTRIC PRODUCTS 00., I'NQ, OF LONG ISLANDGITY, YORK A warm Box con'smnc'non Application filed December 12, 1529. Serial No. 413,545.

This invention'relates generallylto letter boxes and-has reference particularly to im provements'in the construction of such boxe s adaptedfor apartments housing a plurality oftenants ,f r

' To explain the general nature ofmy: invention,tI shall point out that in the manufacture of letter boxes embodying a plurality of compartments, it is desirable to utilize as. many similar parts as possible, thus reducing spective' view of. one of the receptacles or.

the cost of production and insta1lation.', I

It is, therefore, one obj eot of my invention 7 to provide a letter box made up of a plu rality of upright receptacles, each thereof being exactly alike'and having alower door accessible to the tenant of the apartment,.a 7 frame marginally disposed about the recepr tacles and a single upper door for vthe entire bank of receptacles accessible to the post-.1

A further :object of the invention is'to pica vide a receptacle for a letter box of :the char-Iv acter described, which consists of *a trough' shaped length of metal having the free ends, of the side Walls offset and bent back' upon themselves to form channels :with adjacent walls into which the flanges of the lower'dqorf are received. 7

A still further object of theinvention is. to provide each separate receptacle with spaced projections or tabsat opposite ends,"

which tabs are inserted in openingsor slots. ina top and bottom wall and turnedover on the'latter to hold the parts together.

' Another object'of the invention is to provide a manifold frame which will fitmarginally about a plurality of units and which, will rest flush with the doors of the receptae cles and surrounding Wall inwhich the letter.

' inFi mail box showing the various elements in per a spective; .Eigure4 is asectional view illustrating the novel hinge means for 'mounting] both upper and lower doors; Figure5 is a sectional'view of a'portionof the bottom wall and 'means for anchoring the units to said wall Figure 6 is aperspective-view of a corner of the mail boxshowing the arrangement of the frame element; andFigure 7 is aper units; .7

"Rererringm the drawings, 10 denotes a receptacle of which. any number may be juxtaposed side by side to form abank 'cojrre- OFFICE I:

spond-ingf to the number. of apartments, 1 Each unit-comprises an integral sheet met l" member. having arback wall 11 and per-pen-v d-icularside'walls 12,.the upper and lowler" ends of the latter havingspa'ced tabs or pro jections 13, as illustrated i lxFigure's 3 and The front ends of the side vvalls 11 are offset slightly towards eachother andth'en each I i is bentfover' on'itself tofform a bead 14, throughout the length of the unit, which'bead when juxtaposed next. to the adjoining unit forms one wall of a channel 15, as ill ustratively exemplified inFigure 2. v It is to be noted particularly in connection with these runitsthat each thereof is of the same dimen-' sions, materials, etc. so as to makeit prac-' tical to utilize 'lAbout midway the height offe'achi unit the bead14 is cut-away to form a slot16 for the purpose of accommodating the lower edged the upper door.17 or the upper edge ofa'lower door 18., According to the pr'esentinventioneach unit is provided with its'oWnlower.

door 18,1accessible to the occupant of an apartment, and consisting ;of a flat [piece of any number of such units, for avt'single installation.

sheet .metal of dimensions corresponding. to

those ofthe lower, halfof the unit and having its longer sides bent perpendicularly topro- .vide narrow flanges 19 adapted to occupy one half of the-channels 15 when the door is closed over the front of the unit, as illustrated rer2. A suitable-lock 20 is provided for'eachdoor 18,*the belt of this look being engaged in a slot 21-cut thebot tom'wall 22.

Ice

Referring now to the bottom wall 22, the latter comprises a single strip of sheet metal of a length corresponding to the desired number of units, having an upright perpendicular back flange 28 against which the back walls 11 abut, and a perpen dicular downwardly projectingfront fiange24, which is flush with the ends of the beadsl l. These lus:

tabs 13 project prior to being bent over on the surface of the wall.

materialexactly the same as that from which the bottom wall 23' is made, the back'flange' 27 in this instancetprojecting' downwardly while 7 the front flange 28 projects upwardly on the same plane as theflange 24. A ccording to' the'construction thus far described," a plurality of units or receptacles 10 are bankedf side by side, theside walls'i12'of the end units providing the upright sides of the assembly and the walls 22,and 26: forming bottom and top walls, respectively, and serifing to bindthe structure togtherthrpugh doors 17 which will also mount the samecom V I Theletter'boxconsisting of the unit's'; 1 0 and w 7 30' the tabs 13. and slo s 2 f top and bottom walls 26 and 22, respectively,

is, inserted into an opening left in the plaster or wall'board'sof thewall carrying the box and in 'order'lto finish ofi the box, I provide a'frame 29 'made up'of strips of L-shape d metal having dimensions'corresponding with the outside dimensions of'the units, i. e.,' the longer flanges of the frame rest against the front face" of the flanges 24; and 28', the

v v I shorter flanges ofthe frame embrace the out? eredges ofthe' flanges 24 and 28, as"illustratively exemplified in 'Figurej3, At the upright sides of the frame 29 the same are c supported on (the front flanges of L- sh'aped V strips 30, the other flanges thereof being riveted or otherwise attached 12 of'the end units.

1Referrin'g now to the latter comprises a plateof dimensions cor to the outside walls responding to the overall dimensions of the:

plurality of units'beingutilized inthe entire letter box, the uprightsides'ofthe plate are bent perpendicularly to form flanges 31,- whichjen'gageinthe spaces or grooves-fdrmed by the outside beads 14 of the end unit'span'd the attachedgflanges' of the L-sha'pedstrips 30; I The upperjends of theib'eads'ljfare: cut away toaccommodate a re-en-forcing bar32-Which v isattached by meansjof rivets toth e door adjacent its upper end,"as illustrated in Flgure 8. v The .bar 32 also carries a single lock accessible through a key, slot 34 at front of the door." a

and upper door 17 are hinged to the" units 17 is similarly hinged except that the lower 'endsof,its,flanges-31 are at right angles thereto andhingef on their respective pins 36. Intermediate the width of the upper door 17 the lower end accommodates hinge blocks 37 a iwhich' proj'ect inwardly from the inner face ,The top wall 26 is constructed ofa strip of I of the plate and enter the grooves formed by adj acentbead's 14: just above the cut outs 16. Each block 87 hinges on a pin 88 mountc ed'f'in'thebea ds 1i on opposite sides thereof.

It will suflice to state, in connection with the construction of the'letter box described in detail in the foregoing paragraphs, that boxes .of any'numbe'r of units may be fabri-j cated according to the present invention, by

simply providing strips of material forming the upper and lower walls 22 and 26" of dif ferent dimensions to accommodate the diifer ent c'ombinationsand"frames 29 and upper binations of units. Thus the manufacturer need only provide himself with a'large num ofthe various sizes required of differentcomsmall'and the same may be easily stocked; The last items are the top and bottom walls but since they are just alike and maybe manufactured in long strips from which the desired lengths may be cut,the stocking'of this particular material does not add to the actual'inanufacturing cost, as would be the case iffspecial castings or parts were'rej l quired for both top and bottom members as upper; door 17, "the well as 'forthe various sizes of'letter boxes.

' 'Havingnow described my invention what I claim and'desire to secure by Letters Pat- A letter box comprising a plurality of ends forming channels with adjacentoifset. ends'of'the next receptacles, a door hinged midWa-ythe height of) each receptacle and having side flanges to engage in said channels; the closed position of the door anda' ;V singledoorhinged at the mid portion of the binationsof 'such units. The frames 29willi box and closing over the remainder of all the v c p e receptacles.

Th means, bywhich the lowerdoor 13 12. A letter box-,icomprising apluralityof uprighti juxtaposed'receptacles, each thereof havingthe forward ends of its side walls:

bent back upon themselves and offset inward ly with respect to the plane of the side walls,

the mid portion of the offset ends being cut away, said ofl'set ends forming a channel with the corresponding offset end of the adjacent receptacle, a hinged'door for closing the portion of each receptacle below the cut away portion and having side flanges to engage in said channels, the hinge for said door being disposed just below the lower end of said cut away portion, and a single hinged door for all the upper portions of said receptacles and having side flanges to engage against the offset ends of the outside walls of the end receptacles, the hinge for the upper door being disposed in the offset ends just above the cut away portion thereof.

3. A letter box, comprising a plurality of upright receptacles, each thereof being formed ofrsheet metal having a back wall and forwardly extending side walls, the front ends of which are bent back upon themselves and then ofl'set towards each;

other, the mid portion of the ends being cut away and provided with openings adjacent the ends of the cut out portions, the opposite ends of the side walls being provided with projecting tabs, a door pivoted in the lowermost'pair of openings in the forward'ends and having side flanges to engage in the oif set portions of the forward ends.

4. A letter box, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed similar upright receptacles, an individual door for closing the lower portion of each receptacle, a single door for. closing the upper portions of all the receptacles similar manifold top and bottom plates for the juxtaposed receptacles, said plates having oppositely projecting flanges, one thereof engaging over the back of the receptacles and the other projecting upright and flush with the doors, similar angle pieces secured along one side of each to the outer sides of the end receptacles, the other sides of the pieces being flush with the said front flanges of the top and bottom plates, and a flanged frame embracing the front and free edges of said flanges.

5. A letter box, as claimed'in claim 4;, in which the upper and lower ends of the side walls of each receptacle are provided with projecting tabs which project through slots in the top and bottom plates and are turned over on the outside faces thereof to hold the receptacles together, substantially as de-' scribed.

6. A letter box, as claimed in claim 4, in which-the forward portions of the bottom plate midway between the side walls ofeach receptacle are provided with slots, and a lock carried at the free end of each lower door having its bolt engaging in a slot to lock the door in closed position. i i

7. A letter box, as claimed in claim 4, including a lock for each door, the bottom ceive the bolt of the lock on the upper door.

8. A mail box, as claimed in claim 2, in

which hinged'ends of the flanges of all the doors are inclined towards'the free ends of 1 the doors to permit the doors to swing open 7 to horizontal position. 7

I 9. A mail box, as claimed in claim; 2, in

which the upper ends of theofi'set front ends 1 of the side walls of the receptacles are. cut away, and a bar is carried transversely of the inner face of the upper door adjacent its free end to rest in the space left by the said cut away portions. I

In testimony whereof he has aflixed his signature.

LOUIS W. COLE. 

